


after the end

by A_Shark_Named_Max



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Dorothea/Petra are there briefly in the beginning, F/F, I love editing at 1 in the morning...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 18:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20214358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Shark_Named_Max/pseuds/A_Shark_Named_Max
Summary: Edelgard muses over the events that brought them to this point.





	after the end

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in 2 days, I'm about to lose my mind but I'm glad to have something to write about again.
> 
> Also Edelgard refers herself as "emperor" yet everyone keeps using "empress", STEP IT UP FOLKS.

“How have you been, Edie?”

Edelgard sipped her bergamot tea as she watched Byleth and Petra spar in the courtyard a few ways away from where Dorothea and her were sitting. Petra said she had wanted to show the Professor how she had been improving in her swordsmanship, but something tells her it was because she wanted to show off to her wife. Not that she was complaining, watching Byleth train or in combat was always something beautiful, she was so quick and fluid to always left her feeling breathless. 

Edelgard pulled Byleth's coat tighter around her shoulders. "I've been well Dorothea, how about you, has Brigid been treating you well?"

She watched the other woman run a finger along the lip of her teacup, her gaze focus entirely on the Brigid Queen who backflipped and charged forward into Byleth's counter. "It's been a trying experience, not that anyone has been malicious towards me, but it is a bit disheartening." Edelgard watched as she took a long sip of her tea as Byleth dodged a swipe from Petra. "But, Petra has been so lovely and sweet through this. She told me 'Once they see your heart and how precious you are to me, they'll understand'."

Dorothea smiled. "I don't know what I'd do without her."

Edelgard reached over and placed her hand over hers. "I'm happy for you, my friend. You and Petra though, I never would have expected it but I can see now how well you compliment each other." Dorothea laughed, "I could say the same thing about you except for the fact that everyone could see your giant crush on the Professor.”

“I did not-!”

“You had a crush on me?” Edelgard looked up to see both Byleth and Petra had returned from their spar, other than their windswept hair you wouldn’t think they had been busy fighting for the past half hour. “That’s cute.”

Edelgard looked away, her face flushed red all the way to the tips of her ears. “Byleth, we’re married.” Byleth smirked and leaned over, kissing her temple. “Still.”

“So who won?” Dorothea asked when Petra sat down, grabbing her hand and pulling it into her lap.

“The Professor, I still have a long way to go until I am besting you. But I will not be losing next time.”

Byleth laughed. “You came a lot closer than Caspar has. Don’t tell him I said that, I don’t think Linhardt could handle being dragged into his shenanigans more than usual.”

The rest of their free day was spent idling on the palace grounds, tomorrow their time would be spent with meetings and negotiations, even with the war over there was still so much work to be done. Dismantling a deeply entrenched system was always going to be a tough and tedious amount of work and Edelgard knew more than anyone how frustrating and exhausting it would be especially towards the nobles who would fight tooth and nail to keep some sense of power. If it wasn’t for her friends, even those who were far away from the Empire still took the time to send letters and the like that she could almost feel like she was there with them.

And then there were her advisers who kept her on her path, Ferdinand and her somehow managed to form something of a friendship, she never would’ve imagined that considering their times in the academy but now she was so grateful for him to be at her side. Hubert, her ever loyal retainer who stood by her side from the beginning, she was ever so grateful for his friendship even if she disliked the underhanded methods she knew he would do even she voiced her disdain for them.

Then there was her teacher, or former to be precise, it was funny that despite everything that everyone still referred to Byleth as ‘professor’. Maybe it was just a habit that never went away, even after five years of absence, they’ve all tried to refer to Byleth by name but it always felt odd even for her.

It was a source of immense teasing from her wife.

Edelgard thinks about during those five years how devastated she was, how she so desperately sent out search parties, always hoping for any hint that Byleth was alive. The more time grew, the harder it was to keep that hope alive, working through the pain and closer to their goal was what kept her going, knowing that her Professor wouldn’t want her to just curl up in her own despair when there was a war raging on. Keeping Byleth in her thoughts motivated her even more, what her teacher would think of her decisions was what helped her the most, she would’ve felt more embarrassed by it if her fellow Black Eagles didn’t also share this same sentiment.

How strange this mercenary turned Professor became so important to them.

How strange that Edelgard and Byleth would fall in love with each other.

Edelgard always felt drawn to Byleth that night they met, it only grew the more time they spent around each other and fought alongside one another. Byleth’s silent nature, while off-putting at first, grew to be very comforting and she found herself oddly expressing herself more honestly than she has in years. She could probably figure out the exact moment when her feelings toward Byleth turned romantic, it was the night of their win after the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, how she expressed to her teacher about not wanting her to serve the Empire but to guide her as Emperor. When Byleth turned to her with slight smirk on her face and asked her “Am I the that one?”, Edelgard could feel her heart start beating hard against her chest that she wondered if everyone else could hear it.

When Byleth had escaped the darkness Solon trapped them in, their new appearance ran her blood cold and when her teacher told her that it was because of the Goddess then it became obvious that she couldn’t ask for her help anymore. Edelgard just couldn’t imagine that after being granted power by what she sought to destroy, she couldn’t fathom she would join them at all, she would surely wipe them out.

But she didn’t.

When Rhea ordered Byleth to kill her, she was more than ready to be struck down, wondering if Hubert would be quick enough to teleport them out of danger or she would perish. But that didn’t happen.

Instead, Byleth drew the Sword of the Creator against Rhea, against the Church and stood with her. Edelgard was so stunned in that moment, never would she believe this outcome would ever happened. Everything seemed to snowball afterwards, their attack on the monastery and those five years without Byleth.

Somehow they came out on the other side and Byleth was hers.

Edelgard looked out towards the courtyard, where her wife was making her daily rounds talking to the palace staff. Since their days at the monastery and their victory against Rhea and the Church, Byleth had changed so much, you wouldn’t have noticed if you didn’t spend as much time as Edelgard did as with the other Black Eagles. She smiled and laughed more, she seemed more relaxed which was an odd thing to say since Byleth never exuded anything other than calmness before but part of it was due to the Goddess and creststone holding her back from expressing anything else.  The biggest change being Byleth’s heartbeat, having to be explained that having one at all for Byleth was new was astonishing and also alarming, Dorothea's exclamation of “you were being serious?!” was amusing. Sometimes Edelgard would catch Byleth staring off into the distance, her hand over where her heart would be, probably feeling the steady thumping of it; Byleth would later tell her that she did think that it was strange how it would speed up and slow down or how she would expect it to just disappear sometimes.

Edelgard also had this fear, remembering the moment when Byleth had collapsed after their fight with the Immaculate One and she couldn’t hear a heartbeat was probably one of the most terrifying moments of her life. She had made it a habit to sleep with her head on Byleth’s chest to hear her heartbeat, at first it was paranoia but now it was a sign of comfort that helped her sleep.

Later that night when all responsibilities were finished or could be saved until tomorrow, they both retired to their bed chambers after a late dinner. Byleth paused while helping brush Edelgard’s hair, “You know it’s interesting, in the time I was gone how so much changed, but there was something I noticed that didn’t.” Edelgard waited as Byleth finished brushing her hair, setting the brush on the counter in front of them and running her fingers through her hair. “After 5 years and then some, you're still the same height, El.”

“Professor!”


End file.
